The subject matter herein relates generally to cable interconnect systems, and more particularly, to cassettes that have shielded plug cavities.
Known connector assemblies exist having multiple receptacles in a common housing, which provide a compact arrangement of such receptacles. Such a connector assembly is useful to provide multiple connection ports. Accordingly, such a connector assembly is referred to as a multiple port connector assembly. The receptacles may be in the form of RJ-45 type modular jacks that establish mating connections, with corresponding RJ-45 modular plugs. The receptacles, each have electrical terminals arranged in a terminal array, and have plug receiving cavities.
One application for such connector assemblies is in the field of computer networks, where desktops or other equipment are interconnected to servers or other network components by way of sophisticated, cabling. Such networks have a variety of data transmission mediums including coaxial cable, fiber optic cable and telephone cable. One such network topography is known as the Ethernet network, which is subject to various electrical standards, such as IEEE 802.3 and others. Such networks have the requirement to provide a high number of distributed connections, yet optimally requires little space in which to accommodate the connections. Another application for such connector assemblies is in the field of telephony, wherein the connection ports allow connection with a telephone switching network of a telephone service provider, such as a regional telephone company or national telephone company.
One type of connector assembly is the connector assemblies, the housing has receptacle connectors one above the other, forming a plurality of arrays in stacked arrangement, so-called “stacked jack” arrangements. One example of a stacked jack type of connector assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,988, assigned to Tyco Electronics Corporation, which discloses an insulative housing having two rows of receptacles that is; plug cavities. The receptacles are arranged side-by-side in an upper row and side-by-side in a lower row in a common housing, which advantageously doubles the number of receptacles without having to increase the length of the housing. The insulative housing includes an outer shield that surrounds the unit. Stacked jacks have the advantage of coupling a plurality of receptacles within a network component in a compact arrangement. However, typical stacked jacks only provide the outer shield to electrically isolate the connector assembly from other components within the system, such as adjacent connector assemblies. Shielding is not provided between each of the receptacles. As connector assemblies are driven towards higher performance, the shielding provided with known connector assemblies is proving ineffective.
Another type of connector assembly includes a plurality of individual modular jacks that are mounted within a housing to form an interface connector. Each modular jack includes a jack housing defining a plug cavity and a plurality of contacts within the plug cavity. The interface connector, including a number of the modular jacks, may be mounted to a corresponding network component. At least some known connector assemblies of this type utilize shielded modular jacks, wherein each modular jack is separately shielded and installed in the housing. While interface connectors have the advantage of coupling a plurality of modular jacks within a network component in a single arrangement, incorporating individual modular jacks have the problem of limited density. The density problem arises from each modular jack having a separate jack housing, which may be bulky. The density problem is exaggerated when shielded modular jacks are used as the shielded modular jacks are even larger than non-shielded modular jacks.
At least one of the problems with known connector assemblies is that current networks are requiring a higher density of connections. Additionally to meet performance requirements, shielding is required between adjacent plug cavities that are in close proximity. Some connector assemblies that are shielded are known to be bulky, which reduces the density per linear inch.